Champions League 09/10

Champions League 2nd Qualifying Round

Makedonija 0-4 BATE (0-2 ,0-2)
Pyunik 0-3 Dinamo Zagreb (0-0, 0-3)
Ekranas 4-6 Baký (2-2, 2-4)
EB/Streymur 0-5 APOEL (0-2, 0-3)
Rhyl 0-12 Partizan Belgrade (0-4, 0-8)
Inter Turku 0-2 Sheriff (0-1, 0-1)
Levski Sofia 9-0 Sant Julià (4-0, 5-0)
Tirana 1-5 Stabæk (1-1, 0-4)
Zrinjski 1-4 Slovan Bratislava (1-0, 0-4)
Ventspils 6-1 Dudelange (3-0, 3-1)
WIT 1-3 Maribor (0-0, 1-3)
Maccabi Haifa 10-0 Glentoran (6-0, 4-0)
Debrecen*away goals 3-3 Kalmar (2-0, 1-3)
København 12-0 Mogren (6-0, 6-0)
Wisla Kraków 1-2 Levadia Tallinn (1-1, 0-1)
Salzburg 2-1 Bohemians (1-1, 1-0)
FH 0-6 Aktobe (0-2, 0-4)

Of course this is the first year of the revamped CL and Michel Platini is hoping that more of these teams end up in the group stage of the competition, which I think is a pretty laudable ambition. There are a couple of interesting bits to highlight down this list. The biggest story was Polish champions Wisla Krakow being eliminated by the Estonians Levadia Tallinn. Levadia got a 1-1 draw in Poland and then won the home leg, so it seems they deserved to advance. There was nearly another shock as well, as Salzburg (whom Dietrich 'Red Bull' Mateschitz has poured money into to establish them as a CL-level team) were 4 mins from being knocked out by Bohemians of Ireland. BATE Borisov of Belarus of course made it to the CL group stage last season and held their heads above water with two draws against group winners Juventus. They are still alive after a comfortable win over Makedonija.

There is a 'Champions Path' and a 'Non-Champions Path' from now on. Here are the fixtures:

UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
Non-Champions Path draw
First leg: 28/29 July
Second leg: 4/5 August

Sparta Prague (CZE) v Panathinaikos FC (GRE)
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) v FC Timiþoara (ROM)
Sporting Lisbon (POR) v FC Twente (NED)
Celtic FC (SCO) v FC Dinamo Moskva (RUS)
RSC Anderlecht (BEL) v Sivasspor (TUR)

Champions Path draw
First leg: 28/29 July
Second leg: 4/5 August

FC Salzburg (AUT) v NK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK) v Olympiacos CFP (GRE)
FC Zürich (SUI) v NK Maribor (SVN)
APOEL FC (CYP) v FK Partizan Belgrade (SRB)
FC Sheriff (MDA) v SK Slavia Prague (CZE)
FK Aktobe (KAZ) v Maccabi Haifa FC (ISR)
FK Baký (AZE) v PFC Levski Sofia (BUL)
FK Ventspils (LVA) v FC BATE Borisov (BLR)
FC Levadia Tallinn (EST) v Debreceni VSC (HUN)
FC København (DEN) v Stabæk IF (NOR)

Thank you for getting this started admitedly I have not been paying much attention yet to the Champions League but i should soon as Atletico Madrid are in the preliminary runds. So does this "Champions" and "non Champions" path continue all the way through the preliminary rounds? If so then Atletico Madrid will be in the non Champions path as will the other preliminary round teams from the principal leagues of Europe, Arsenal, Fiorentina, Sevilla, Lyon, etc.

I am a little surprised the Greek champions Olimpiacos and runner up Panathinaikos in these early prleiminary rounds, usually the Greek champion gets a bye inot the group stages and both clubs often are contenders for advancing out of the groups. Thus it is a little surprising to me to see them entering so early. I guess the same could also apply to celtic.

I can shed a bit more light on this, in that there's a 4th Qualifying Round into which Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Fiorentina, Lyon and Stuttgart go automatically. It is unseeded and yes, champions and non-champions are kept apart throughout so I think we can expect some pretty titanic battles in August that would be more naturally suited to the later knockout stages of the CL.

Got it, thanks for the clarification. So here are Wednesday's preliminary round results:

FT Ventspils 1 - 0 BATE Borisov
FT Tallinna FC Levadia 0 - 1 Debrecen
FT APOEL Nicosia 2 - 0 Partizan Belgrade
FT FC Sheriff 0 - 0 Slavia Prague
FT Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 2 FC Timisoara
FT Slovan Bratislava 0 - 2 Olympiakos Piraeus
FT FC Copenhagen 3 - 1 Stabaek
FT Zurich 2 - 3 NK Maribor
FT RB Salzburg 1 - 1 Dinamo Zagreb
FT Celtic 0 - 1 Dynamo Moscow
FT Sporting Lisbon 0 - 0 FC Twente Enschede

Great result in Glasgow for Dynamo Moscow. You have to think that they are in midseason had to have helped them against Celtic who are still in preseason. FC Twente with a good result away to Sporting Lisbon, same applies with Timisoara's draw away to UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk. And a big 2 goal away win for Olimpiacos.

I don't want to hijack this thread and, since Sir Alfred is AWOL, I may be the only one who cares, but it's really alarming to me how far Swedish clubs have sunk in this competition. An Allsvenskan representative hasn't managed to make any kind of impact in years.

This from a country that is the largest and most populous in Scandanavia and a country that consistently fields a very solid national team. Yet, it's club teams can't even keep pace with their neighbors in Norway and Denmark.

All Scandavian teams are sellers, off-loading their promising youngsters. And, I know that ice hockey competes for fan and sponsorship money in Sweden (unlike Norway and Denmark), but the Allsvenskan seems to have sunk to an all-time low.

Good point about the decline of Swedish club football. You would think in such a prosperous nation there would be clubs big enough to be as competitive as clubs from similarly sized nations like Portugal or Belgium but that is not the case. IFK Gothenburg twice won the UEFA Cup in the 1980s, once with Sven Goran Eriksson as manager, but those days are long gone and this week in a Europa League (ex UEFA Cup) preliminary round game this week, IFK Gothenburg lost 3-1 at home to Hapoel tel Aviv!

Too bad Sir Alfred has not been around lately, I would be interested in reading his take on Swedish clubs.

Dramatic late comebacks this week by both Celtic and Sporting Lisbon to knock out Dynamo Moscow and Twente from the Champions League. Also exiting early was Shakhtar Donetsk, last season's uEFA Cup champions!

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=Ah0V...v=afp&type=lgns

Too bad Sir Alfred is MIA, his views were always interesting to read. I tried contacting him in the past but never received a reply.

Full Champions League play-off draw.

FC Sheriff v Olympiakos
SV Red Bull Salzburg v Maccabi Haifa
FK Ventspils v FC Zurich
FC Copenhagen v Apoel Nicosia
Levski Sofia v Debrecen
Lyon v Anderlecht
Celtic v Arsenal
FC Timisoara v VfB Stuttgart
Sporting v Fiorentina
Panathinaikos v Atletico Madrid

(The first legs are to played 18/19 August while the second legs will take place on 25/56 August)

I reckon the standout ties are Celtic-Arsenal, Sporting Lisbon-Fiorentina and Panathinaikos-Atletico Madrid. This round has a distinctly lop-sided look to it, as some pretty strong sides are going to go out while some comparatively weaker ones will advance, but that's the way Platini wants it. Greater diversity is no bad thing I suppose.

Lyon-Anderlecht isn't bad either.

Atletico Madrid are happy they were drawn with Panathinaikos. Arsenal and Lyon were the two clubs Atletico wanted to avoid. This new system is, as Simon points out, meant to help the champions of some smaller countries get the opportunity to qualify for the group stage. As long as the 3rd or 4th place teams from the bigger nations still have the chance to make it, then I do not mind this new qualifying format. And it does produce some interesting preliminary round matchups such as those Simon and Gunners named.

I say spread the wealth too and I like the idea that a Swiss, Bulgarian, Danish or Austrian club may get the chance to play in the Champions League group stage. The Manchester Uniteds, Real Madrids and Inter Milans may rather face Red Bull Salzburg or Levski Sofia than Panathinaikos or Celtic but it is good for the overall game throughout Europe to give these clubs from smaller leagues the opportunity to play and perhaps most importantly to earn money from the Champions League.

I say spread the wealth too and I like the idea that a Swiss, Bulgarian, Danish or Austrian club may get the chance to play in the Champions League group stage. The Manchester Uniteds, Real Madrids and Inter Milans may rather face Red Bull Salzburg or Levski Sofia than Panathinaikos or Celtic but it is good for the overall game throughout Europe to give these clubs from smaller leagues the opportunity to play and perhaps most importantly to earn money from the Champions League.

That is true there will be more opportunities for the clubs from smaller nations but overall it will mean the group stages will be not as strong. Be prepared for some easy wins when Inter, Liverpool or Barcelona play FC Copenhagen or Levski Sofia. But in the big picture I can see how it will benefit the game throughout the continent and letting some of the clubs from smaller nations share in the wealth is not a bad thing.

To me it is not just the fact that Copenhagen, Levski Sofia or FC Zurich could make it to the Chamions League, it is that these clubs will now be eligible to receive the big Champions League payoff which could help them build their teams up where they can consistently compete in the Champions League. In other words they could get the resources so they can improve.

I understand the egalitarian point you are making valenciano but what good did competing in and getting the succulent prize money have on FC Thun or Anorthosis Famagusta or BATE Borisov? They went one and out, as they did not return to the tournament. They had their moment in the sun and that was it.

An interesting point you raise libero. To be fair Anorthosis and BATE were only in the tournament last season, maybe they need another year or two before their financial windfall works its way down to the playing side of things. As I undestand it the money they received doesn't arrive until after the season is completed so they likely just recently received their prize from last season's competition.

But libero's point about FC Thun and other minnows who made it to the group stage is worth considering. Those clubs were not able to use their financial windfall from the Champions League to better themselves. And although an extreme case, also look at Leeds United who were semifinalists at the beginning of this decade. The club then spent beyond it's means to try and keep up but instead led itself to financial ruin, eventually leading to their fall to the third level of English football, a hole they are just beginning to dig themselves out of.